On Tuesday morning, my friend Kylie and I left Perth and drove to Bremer Bay. A very wet drive. The initial purpose of this trip is for me to see the locations of the Family Missions that happen around WA over summer. That meant that we went via Brookton in the wheatbelt - check out the sites that the mission use and got a sense of the town. I'm increasingly conscious that there are things you just can't know without seeing a place for yourself - it's so valuable. Then a late lunch at Stumpy's Roadhouse - we've said that "roadhouses are our friend"! Then the long drive to Bremer Bay.
We stopped in Katanning for a quick walk and Kylie was impressed with the friendliness of the locals driving past in utes! We spent some time trying to work out whether we needed to eat there - or whether we would make it to Bremer Bay in time for the restaurant at the place we were staying. A phone call to the place we were staying indicated that they thought we would make it. We followed there advice - and made it in plenty of time. But it is a consideration that I am learning to regularly take into account in my WA life, even more so outside of Perth.
Bremer Bay Resort more than met our expectations. After settling into our room, we went into the restaurant and ordered dinner - lamb shanks for me, lamb curry for Kylie; glass of white wine for Kylie, glass of red for me. Very satisfying. TV / Computer time / Sleep followed.
As we woke up on Wednesday and opened the blind, we were greeted by a clear morning and a view of the local river. After packing the car, we headed up for breakfast at the restaurant - the best breakfast I have ever had! Eggs Florentine.
I chatted to a friend while we ate; Kylie read some of her book. We then talked for a couple of hours while sitting in a lovely spot.
Eventually we got moving. And checked out the beach in Bremer Bay.
As we drove around the town we came across a "Barbara St". Of course, I needed to take a photo. Kylie suggested that it was a sign ... a sign of what? It would be a pretty good place to live! We resisted taking the sign!
Once we were finished with the township we headed out to the caravan park out of town. This is the place that the mission team stay at - and part of my purpose on this trip is to check out such places. The owner and staff were friendly and clearly appreciative of the teams presence there in January. They also proved to be our tourist information - and pointed us in the direction of beaches to check out before we left the area - and recommendations for our next few days as we continued around the coast. Before we left the Bremer Bay area we headed down to Blossom Beach which the owner of the caravan park had recommended to us.
Next on our journey was Cheynes Beach. A very small isolated place - where a mission team is over summer. We connected with the caravan park owner - who once again was helpful. And after checking out the location of where they run the program in January, we headed down to the beach.
We walked along the beach - wanting to have a closer look at a boat that was on the water.
We couldn't have chosen a better time to be on the beach. Sunset - and such beauty.
And in the midst of that - a gorgeous photo opportunity.
As I look at that sunset - and reflect on what such beauty draws out of me, I'm reminded of the rainbows that we saw on the trip yesterday. A few different occasions we saw rainbows - on an occasion we could see the whole of a rainbow, another time we could see part of a double rainbow - special and a reminder of God's faithfulness.
Life is breathtaking. We saw and experienced many moments of such life yesterday and arrived into Albany tired from both days of driving but satisfied and having had a relaxing and fun day of exploring - as well as great interactions with staff of the caravan parks missions are connected with and gaining an understanding of the context they are ministering in.
No question - it was a day of experiencing the wonder of God's awesome creation.
